The Crown Inn, Hereford

Two bar pub in the village of Woolhope. I arrived to find a packed bar to the right-hand side of the entrance, busy mostly with elderly male diners who sounded as if they had just finished work in the City. There appeared to be a lot of noise and braying. This is the original part of the pub and whilst I did spot one spare table in the corner, I didn't fancy the noise. There is a small bar area with 2 seats in between the 2 rooms. Instead, I chose to sit in the newer and much quieter room off to the left-hand side. I initially assumed this to be the main dining area, but a dartboard suggested that it actually serves both diners and drinkers. A small group of 4 were finishing lunch. There is lots of exposed brickwork above wainscotting, with cricket memorabilia including old bats lining the walls. At the bar, service was from a friendly, young barmaid. Cask ales were Wye Valley HPA & Bitter. However, my attention was drawn to the Oliver's Fine Perry clip on another handpull. A further Oliver's clip was turned round on the adjacent pull. Draft ciders included Two Farmers Apple Cider & Pixley Berries & King's Medium Sparkling Cider & Rhubarb Cider. It turned out that all of these were produced by the landlord himself. In addition to the main menu, bar snacks such as shrimps and pickled eggs were also available. It wasn't long before one of the group I was sat near started talking to me. He turned out to be the landlord and we soon started discussing my aim to visit as many pubs as possible in the UK and my love for cider (and perry). It wasn't long before he'd got other customers into the conversation, before he produced one of a set of 7 (the 8th one had been broken by a child) original Babycham glasses and having washed the dust out of one, returned with it containing his Two Farmers Cider for me to sample. The landlord was an extremely hospitable chap who had run the pub for quite a number of years, having previously run the Scrumpy House (Weston's cider tap) in Much Marcle. As I was about to bid my farewells, my visit took another unexpected twist, when Mr Oliver of Oliver's Cider & Perry fame arrived himself in his pick-up truck to deliver a couple of boxes of cider and perry! I'd always thought of Oliver's as being quite a commercial concern and hadn't anticipated that Tom Oliver himself would be doing local deliveries! Inevitably, we were soon introduced and I got to briefly chat with a reknowned name in the cidermaking world! This is without doubt a fabulous village pub with a welcoming atmosphere and a clear focus on both its food and its drinks, in particular the cider and perry. As such, it was right up my street. Easily the best pub I visited in Herefordshire on the day. Hopefully I'll get back here one day.

Facebook page of The Crown Inn - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Crown Inn - thecrowninn.pub

Facebook page of The Crown Inn - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Crown Inn - thecrowninn.pub

Found at 11am on a Saturday morning, 8 miles and 2hours 40 minutes into a walk from Hereford. Fortunately, there was a stag do on, and the pub was just opening! Decent pint of Wye Valley HPA in a lovely beer garden. Some photos at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/1OiZwvW